‘Have You Seen My Brother?’ sister writes book about her late brother

AUSTINTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – The sister of the late Father Stephen Popovich has written a book about her brother’s life titled “Have You Seen My Brother?” telling both his and her story.

In November of 2013 on an icy road in Poland Township, Father Stephen Popovich lost control of his car, crashed and ended up paralyzed from the waist down.

He then spent nine years at a healthcare center in Liberty before passing away in January. His sister Margie Cretella told him she was writing a book 11 months before he died.

“So he said ‘What’d you write a book about?’ and I said you — he shut the TV off, put the cup of coffee down, and put the paper down and he just looked at me — and I’m like oh, here it goes — and he goes, ‘Thank you,'” said Cretella.

Cretella and Father Popovich were two of five children of the Popovich family of Youngstown’s Southside.

“We grew up with a lot of faith in our house. Our house had a religious tone to it all day long,” said Cretella.

Steve Popovich would become Father Popovich and that religious tone would carry him through his life as a priest even after November 13, 2013, when he lost control on an icy road resulting in paralysis from the waist down.

“He just knew God had a plan for him. He didn’t question it. He had like the epitome of faith,” said Cretella.

Cretella said it was easy to write about her brother because he was such an easy guy.

“He’s simple but yet there’s just a lot to say about him,” she said.

“First thing he said to me was, ‘Hey, and you thought it would be on my motorcycle right?’ I said yeah I did. I truly did.”

The first draft of the book was done long hand and then was transferred to a computer. It took her two months, two weeks and two days to complete.

“It’s an honor for her. She’s the one that lived the story. It’s her story. You gotta be proud of her to actually sit down there and do it the way she did it, and in the short time she did it,” said Margie’s husband Mike Cretella.

“I just felt I owed it to the Lord for what he did for us 10 years to get us through this. It’s just an amazing story of how he was always there, yet I couldn’t find him so much,” said Cretella.

Cretella says in the 10 years Father Popovich was paralyzed she never sought out therapy. She considers the book her therapy.

“Have You Seen My Brother?” is available online at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

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